A Practical Program
The ACTS Doctor of Ministry in Preaching Program combines class work in Chicago over three consecutive summers and projects conducted in the context of one’s local ministry. This work involves a rotation of three videotaped sermons, written reflection papers, and collaboration with members of one’s ministry context. Participants normally complete the program in three years.
This program is practical. Your education extends beyond the classroom into your ministry context, focusing concretely on your unique learning goals and the needs of the people you serve. You will collaborate with members of your ministry to develop competence in the area of ministry that congregations have rated as one of the most important pastoral responsibilities, preaching.
Explore your call to proclaim God’s Word.
Through this program you will improve your understanding of and skills in preaching, discover your own pulpit hermeneutic, claim and nurture your preaching voice and reconsider preaching within a variety of contexts, mentored by preachers and master teachers of international reputation.
For more information, contact the Program Coordinator at actsdmin@garrett.edu.
Each three week summer residency is the first through third week of June.
Program Structure
Core courses (3)
Elective courses (3)
Colloquy courses (3)
Parish Preaching Project
Thesis Defense
Usually completed in 3 years
“Come and join us in an exciting adventure in preaching the gospel. We welcome you!”
– Dean Gennifer Brooks
Preaching as Interpretation
This course offers an opportunity for participants to raise to consciousness and acquire perspective upon their own interpretive strategies for preaching, both in terms of the biblical text and the community, and to sharpen their practice of interpretation in dialogue with recent critical thought and one another.
Preaching as Performance
Participants join their own experience with the depths of scripture in developing sermons that communicate in depth. Preachers focus on their capacity to embody the text as lived experience.
Preaching as Social Transformation
This course explores the social dimensions of preaching, including the congregation’s social context, the social world of the biblical text, and elements of preaching that enable a congregation to engage in issues of social justice.